The DOJ knows the guilty traders get their on-the-job training from the bank's more senior traders. Will the DOJ go after the root criminality now?by Ted Butler of Butler Research via Silver SeekTuesday's announcement by the Justice Department of a guilty plea by a long term former trader from JPMorgan for spoofing COMEX precious metal futures was the second such guilty plea since October. Both tr...Read More

Is silver about to finally play catch-up to gold?by Craig Hemke via Sprott MoneyWhile we've been on the record since January in predicting that 2019 would see the best annualized gains for the precious metals since 2010, we've also been concerned that COMEX gold might pull away from COMEX silver in the short term. Now? Maybe not so much.Two posts from earlier this year that you should review befor...Read More

Harvey says we may be about to see a short squeeze in silver. Here's why...by Harvey Organ of Harvey Organ BlogAUGUST 21/BANKERS ARE DESPERATE TO KEEP BOTH GOLD AND SILVER IN CHECK: GOLD DOWN 30 CENTS TO $1505.60//SILVER UP ONE CENT TO $17.17//COMEX OPTIONS EXPIRY ON FRIDAY AND A HUGE NUMBER OF IN THE CALLS FOR SILVER..MAYBE A SHORT SQUEEZE COMING//IRAN CONTINUES TO MAKE WAVES TO THE WEST TO NOT B...Read More

Gold futures posted their lowest settlement in nearly two weeks on Thursday, pressured by strength in bond yields as the Fed's symposium of central bankers got under way in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's July meeting released Wednesday afternoon "didn't say anything new about the FOMC's plans, both bonds and the gold market have moved too far, too fa...Read More

An overview of the noble alloys markets and their latest price moves.Read More

Indian domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained stable in August with import volumes of this key upstream commodity coming to a halt, Fastmarkets heard on Friday August 23."We have been able to maintain domestic HRC prices for the current month because there is no threat of low-priced HRC imports entering the [Indian domestic] market for some [foreseeable] time," an official from an Indi...Read More

The government of Canada has announced measures to prevent the transshipment of aluminium into the United States, building on commitments made when the US removed its Section 232 import tariffs in May.As of September 1, aluminium products will form part of Canada's Import Control List (ICL) under the Export & Import Permits Act.As a result, importers from next month will be required to cite the ap...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price lost gains made over the course of the trading day to close at $15,665 per tonne on Friday August 23, down 1.3% from the intraday high of $15,860 per tonne, despite a healthy 11,294-lot turnover, the highest since August 8. A significant 22,620 lots were traded on August 8 when a short-covering rally driven by Chinese investment buyers pushed the...Read More

Treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for spot copper concentrates rose marginally in mid-August following five consecutive weeks of declines, with few smelters in the market buying tonnages at stable terms.Fastmarkets' copper concentrate TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific rebounded to $50.20 per tonne/ 5.02 cents per lb on August 23, up from $49.60 per tonne/ 4.96 cents per lb a week ago - whic...Read More

China's state council announced on Friday August 23 it would apply an additional 5% and 10% tariff on $75 billion of United States imports, including copper scrap and aluminium scrap. The move came as a retaliation to the United States' announcement on August 13 that it would impose additional 10% tariffs on approximately $300 billion of Chinese imports. Starting December 15, 2019, China will...Read More

The following Fastmarkets non-ferrous European free market scrap prices changed on Friday August 23:Aluminium scrapMixed turnings, delivered consumer...Read More

Barring zinc and nickel, base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were lower week on week on Friday August 23, with the biggest fall in deliverable lead stocks, which slumped by 9.6% or 3,544 tonnes to 33,065 tonnes. According to the SHFE's latest inventory report, the Zhejiang Tianchuan warehouse in Zhejiang recorded the most lead stock withdrawals this week with 3,401 t...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized flat-rolled steel have slipped for the first time in two months due to concerns about demand and lower substrate prices.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, was at $37.50 per hundredweight ($750 per short ton) on Thursday August 22, down by 1.3% from $38 per cwt a week earlier and off by 25% from $50 per cwt a year earlier.Galv...Read More

Turkish import prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil decreased over the week ended Friday August 23, while the price of HRC exports increased with higher offers, sources told Fastmarkets. Turkey was celebrating the Islamic religious holiday of Eid-Al Fitr on August 12-14, leaving the market steady last week. This week, domestic demand was moderate, but sources said this is because buyers...Read More

Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were stable over the week ended Friday August 23, with the market still slow after the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkey was on eid holiday on August 12-14, and the market was stable over the other two working days of last week.The country's main export market, Europe, was also in its holiday sea...Read More

Turkish steel billet prices fell this week on sluggish demand and a downturn in imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday August 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet import, cfr main port Turkey, was $410-415 per tonne on Thursday, August 22, down from last week's $420-425 per tonne cfr. Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have lowered their offer pri...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in Poland remained unchanged this week, with the seasonal summer slowdown inhibiting market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland remained at 2,150-2,200 zloty ($547-559) per tonne on August 23.The assessment...Read More

Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices picked up further on Friday August 23, but sellers remained worried about the market weakening again soon on the belief that the recent strength was due in large part to speculation. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,730 yuan ($525-527) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,700 yuan per tonne, unchangedRising futures propped u...Read More

Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market declined on Friday August 23 after Indian producers reduced their offer prices, although buying interest remained weak."Buyers in the Philippines are expecting prices to fall further and have [so far] resisted the lower offers because [off poor demand and low prices in] the domestic long steel market," a trader in the Philippines said."However, market...Read More

Prospecting licences held by dual-listed Botswana Diamonds subsidiary Sunland Minerals have been renewed until September 20, 2021.The licences, which cover just over 500 km2, are located in the Kalahari Desert, west of the Ghaghoo diamond mine.AdvertisementBotswana Diamonds on Thursday confirmed that it had already identified prospective drill-ready targets through intensive work including aeromag...Read More